By Stephen Young
Taking up regular table tennis in my late 60s has been fun.
A couple of years ago I thought my tennis days were over because my hip was giving me grief. Then my neighbour invited me to come to U3A social table tennis as an alternative. I had played table tennis as a teenager at boarding school, but hardly at all in the intervening half a century. I went to U3A and was hooked.
They were very welcoming and the standard not at all intimidating. Then I agreed to fill in for one of the players for a few weeks in Illawarra Table Tennis Association winter competition. (Full disclosure: I am a bit of a sports nut, and my competitive juices flow easily.)
That was great fun and I discovered that I could join in practice (with coaching) every Wednesday lunch time at Beaton Park. Now this year I have played nearly every Monday night (except when I had COVID) in the 2022 winter competition in teams of three, winning the Division 2 Grand Final on Monday 1st August.
I love that table tennis combines social, physical, and mental aspects. I get to meet a fresh bunch of people and make new friends. I get to exercise by moving around and improve my reflexes. Keeping track of the score and working out who serves next to whom in doubles challenges my mental agility. Then there is the opportunity for self-improvement – I want to learn to return deep spinny serves and to hit the ball harder with more consistency. There are local experts and hundreds of YouTube videos offering advice. All this is very enjoyable.
Easy opportunities for playing table tennis in Wollongong (bats and balls provided) are at Woonoona Bulli RSL auditorium 10:00 – 12pm Tuesdays and Thursdays (contact: terrynewham@bigpond.com), Beaton Park basketball hall 12:30 – 2:30pm Wednesdays (contact: illawarratt@gmail.com) and Illawarra Sports Stadium 10:00 – 1:00pm Wednesdays and Fridays (contact: 4272 8651)
U3A Northern Illawarra
10am-noon, Tue and Thu, Woonoona Bulli RSL auditorium, terrynewham@bigpond.com. Social. Need to join U3A and RSL club
Illawarra Table Tennis Club (ITTC)
www.illawarratabletennis.org.au, illawarratt@gmail.com
12:30-2:30pm Wednesdays, Beaton Park, Social. $5 per session
7:30-10pm Mondays, Beaton Park, Competition in graded divisions
7:30-10pm Thursdays, Beaton Park, Competition practice
Illawarra Sports Stadium
10am-1pm, Wednesdays & Fridays, illawarrasportsstadium.com.au, phone 4272 8651, Social. $10 per session.
